Listening to Clients: The Role of a Client Forum in a Vocational Training Programme for Young Adults with Learning Disabilities

This paper discusses the development of provision in a training programme which prepares young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities for employment. The example examined here is of a management that wishes to share power with the trainees (rather than power over them) and to do so ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of intellectual disabilities 2000-09, Vol.4 (3), p.209-216
Main Authors: Kambouri, Maria, Corbett, Jenny
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Employment
Intellectual disabilities
Learning disabilities
Learning disabled people
Listening
Power
Teenagers
Trainees
Turntaking
Vocational rehabilitation
Working conditions
Young adults
Youth
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Summary:This paper discusses the development of provision in a training programme which prepares young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities for employment. The example examined here is of a management that wishes to share power with the trainees (rather than power over them) and to do so has established a client forum composed of trainees only and has employed an external facilitator who is independent of the programme. This forum has the power to interview and appoint new staff, to change working conditions and to request additional support or resources. The role of the external facilitator is extremely important in training participants to learn about process (procedures, minutes, taking turns to speak), participation (prompt behaviour and words) and action (remind, inform, encourage to act) which would enable them to be actively empowered as clients of the training programme. The paper offers an evaluation of this process in action.
ISSN:1469-0047
1744-6295
DOI:10.1177/146900470000400303